Cruel and unusual punishment
by Dallyforever101
Summary: It was just a story, a story that came up while they were sitting around in the kitchen. She never thought it would come to this. She never excepted her words to be taken as a need to take action on the problem. And how did she get dragged into being a part of the solution?


A/N: Hey! I know it's been a long time since I last posted anything, but I haven't really been home long enough to have the time to post anything. Plus I haven't had anything to post. :p

So this is just a short story that I've been working on for a few days. It's pre- book, soo, yea. Enjoy!  
Also, the song is Tennessee Waltz by Patti Page. I've been wanting to write a story with that song in it for a long time; I don't know why, I just have.

XXX

Mia strolled down the sidewalk towards the Curtis' house. It was an early Tuesday morning, and she was on her own since she decided to skip school that day.  
As she walked through the gate towards the door of the house, she could see Mrs. Curtis standing in the kitchen.  
"Hey, Mrs. Curtis." Mia called as she walked through the door and kicked her shoes off against the wall.  
"Hello dear." Mrs. Curtis said from the kitchen. "I'm about to start baking cookies, would you like to help?"  
"Sure." Mia said and stood beside Mrs. Curtis as pulled out the recipe for her chocolate chip cookies. "Why are you getting the recipe out?" Mia asked as she started to pull stuff down from the cupboards and placed them on the counter. "You know how to make those by heart." Mrs. Curtis smiled as she ran her finger down the small card that she kept the recipe on.  
"I need to make the batch bigger then I normally do." She said. "I'm making some for the wedding reception next week. I'll freeze them now so that it's one more thing I can cross off my list." Mia rested her elbow on the countertop as Mrs. Curtis pulled out her measuring cups.  
"I always liked weddings." She said as they started to pour out the ingredients into the large bowl Mrs. Curtis had taken from one of the cupboards.  
"Do you think you'll ever get married?" She asked and Mia scrunched up her nose in thought.  
"Doubt it." She said after a moment when Mrs. Curtis handed her the bowl to mix everything together. "Unless some crazy cute guy shows up, I don't think I'd marry any boy who lives around here. They're either ugly or in jail too much to be around long enough to get married." Mrs. Curtis laughed as she started cleaning up the extra stuff on the counter.  
"So you don't think you'd marry Dally?" Mia stuck her tongue out and made a face.  
"Not a chance." She said as she finished stirring and handed the bowl back to Mrs. Curtis. "He's a great friend and all, but I don't think he'll ever stop. He's full of trouble, and I can barely deal with it now." Mrs. Curtis smiled as she took a cookie tray out of the draw below the stove and started to butter it.  
"What about Tim Shepard?" She already knew what Mia's response was going to be, but it was fun to mess with her.  
Mia pulled a face that clearly said that the thought disgusted her.  
"Yuck!" She said. "I'd rather marry a frog then marry Tim Shepard. He's an idiot, and is always getting me into trouble at school. Somehow the teachers believe him over me more often then not." Mrs. Curtis laughed and finished placing the cookie dough on the tray.  
"Speaking of school," She said as she turned on the stove to heat it up. "Why are you here and not there?" Mia just shrugged and sat down at the table.  
"I didn't feel like going today." She said. "I had a detention for something I didn't do. Perfect example of Tim getting me in trouble, it was his fault." A smirked formed on her face. "Though he did get suspended later in the day for fighting with some kid, one more suspension and they might kick him out for the rest of the year." Mrs. Curtis shook her head and handed Mia a glass of water as she sat down with a list in from of her. Mia sat quietly as she watched Mrs. Curtis draw lines through some things on the list before writing down more things to do.

"So what's the point of this wedding anyway?" Mia asked as she finished the glass of water and went over to put the tray of cookies into the oven. "You already got married once, why do it again?" Mrs. Curtis smiled as Mia came back over to the table.

"It's a reason to get everyone together to celebrate." She said. "It's also a great reason to get dressed up." Mia shook her head.

"I was never a fan of getting dressed up in fancy clothes." She said. "I remember Ma trying to get me into a dress for pictures at school one time. I threw a fit because the dress was pink and covered in flowers." She stuck her tongue out at the memory. "She got me into it eventually, and all Dallas did for the rest of the day was laugh at how stupid I looked." She smirked. "But the next day his Ma made him dress up in a tux for his aunt's wedding. It was funny cause when we got to the wedding, everyone thought it'd be cute if the two of us danced together. I thought it was a terrible thought until I found out that he can dance to save his life!" She cracked up laughing. "That was the last time Dallas ever danced, formally at least." Mrs, Curtis laughed with her and checked the time to make sure the cookies wouldn't burn.

"Well, we'll just have to work on that won't we?" Mia raised an eyebrow and was about to ask what she meant when the front door squeaked open.

"Mrs. C?" Dally's voice drifted in from the front room, followed by the slamming of the door.

"In the kitchen, Dallas." Mrs. Curtis called as she stood up to check the cookies in the oven. Dallas walked into the room and looked slightly surprised to see Mia sitting at the table.

"What are you doing here?" He asked as he sat down across from her. Mia rolled her eyes and stood up to get more water.

"Throwing a party." She said sarcastically. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm just hanging out until the guys are out of school."

"Why ain't you at school?"

"Why ain't you?"

"I got suspended, remember?"

"It was only a 2 day suspension, stupid." Dallas rolled his eyes, but didn't argue anymore. He knew Mia was right, and that she knew he was playing hooky, just like her.

"Actually, I'm glad you're here Dallas." Mrs. Curtis said as she pulled the cookie tray out of the oven and placed it on a cooling rack. She turned around to smile at Dallas as she pulled her oven mitts off. "I need your help with something." Dallas shrugged.

"Sure, Mrs. C." He said as he stood up. "What do you need help with?" Mrs. Curtis motioned for him to follow her into the living room. "You can come too, Mia. I'll need you here in a moment." Mia finished off her glass of water and placed it on the table before following after the other two.

When she got to the living room, she saw Mrs. Curtis flipping through the records that she kept on a shelf in the corner of the room, and knew immediately what she was doing; while Dallas stood by the wall looking confused.

"What are you doing, Mrs. C?" He asked when she put a record on the player and tuned it up.

"You're going to help me practice dancing for the wedding." Mia nearly laughed out loud at the look on Dally's face when Mrs. Curtis said the word dancing.

"Yea, I don't dance." Dally said when he'd pulled himself together. Mrs. Curtis gave him a look that clearly said she wasn't giving him a choice, and Dally hesitantly stepped forward.

Mia sat down on the couch and watched as Mrs. Curtis helped Dally learn to dance to some old song that she'd never heard in her life. Watching Dally try and dance was better then watching a movie. He wouldn't take his eyes off his feet, making sure that he did all the steps right. He only stumbled once, and that was when he took his eyes off his feet.

Once the song ended, Mrs. Curtis walked back over to the record player and took the record off. She put it back in its sleeve before she started rotting around for another one.

"OK, Mia." She said. "Now it's your turn." Mia had been pointing at Dally and silently laughing since he'd finished dancing, but now her smile fell and she was left shocked.

"What?" She asked after a moment when she saw Mrs. Curtis putting another record on the player. "B- But Mrs. Curtis-" She started to protest, but was cut off by Mrs. Curtis pulling her up off the couch.

"Come now, Mia." She said as she forced Mia to stand in front of Dally. "There's nothing to it." Mia was about to protest, but closed her mouth when she realized it was pointless. Instead she gave a heavy sigh and looked at Dally. There was a spark in his eye that made her want to turn and run out the door, but she just placed her hand on his shoulder like Mrs. Curtis told her to and waited for Dally to reach for her hand. When he did, he squeezed it hard and Mia forced back a gasp of pain.

"Be nice you two." Mrs. Curtis said as she started the player. "Now I have to go start supper, but I want you two to stay here until the song is over. You'll be dancing at the wedding I assume?" She gave them both a smile that almost looked smug as she walked out of the room, but turned in the doorway. "You two can stand a little closer." Mia and Dallas looked at each other before they took a small step forward. "Come on you two, a little closer. It's a slow song; you're supposed to want to be close to each other." Mia made a disgusted face as she forced herself to take a step closer to Dally. Due to the closeness, she was forced to wrap her arm around Dally's neck. Mrs. Curtis appeared happy and left the room to start supper for her family, leaving the two kids alone.

"You told her didn't you?" Dally said the moment Mrs. Curtis was out of the room. Mia tossed her hair back over her shoulder with a flick of her head and pretended to not know what he was talking about.

"I have no idea what you mean." She said, and took a hasty step back when Dally tried to step on her foot. "OK, I may have mentioned that you can't dance for your life." Dallas growled as they continued to dance around the living room.

"If the guys walk in, you're dead." He said. "Actually, you're gonna be dead anyway. As soon as this song is over, you have 5 seconds to make a break for it."

"Fair enough." She said, and they went quiet, but then noticed the song and both made disgusted faces.

"Aww, come on." Dallas snapped quietly so that Mrs. Curtis couldn't hear. "Tennessee Waltz? What ever happened to Elvis? This is just plain cruel!" Mia bit her tongue to keep from making a comment. Tennessee Waltz was one of Mrs. Curtis' favourite songs, though she didn't know why. Sometimes when she'd come over on her own, and Mrs. Curtis was the only one around, it was the only song that would play on the record player until the others started to show up.

"You're time's been cut." Dally said. "You have 3 seconds to run before I catch you and knock your head into the cement for this." Mia raised an eyebrow at him, but didn't argue. Dally was clearly angry at being forced to dance, and she didn't feel like pushing his temper any more then she already had.

As the song started to slow down, Mia felt herself tense up as she got ready to make a break for the door. She needed to put on her sneakers, and that would take up most of her time, so she needed to be ready to run the second the song was over. If she caught Daly off guard at first, it would give her about 2 extra seconds, maybe.

As soon as the song was over, Mia tore herself from Dally's grasp and charged for the door. She took a second to shove her feet into her sneakers, and listened as Dally started counting.

Reaching for the door handle, she yanked it open in one swift motion, listening as Dally finished counting.

"Later, Mrs. Curtis!" Mia called over her shoulder as she took off down the front steps and started for the road. She didn't bother to open the gate; instead she jumped the fence and nearly knocked Two- Bit over as she landed on the other side. "Sorry, Two!" She called as she ran down the street at top speed.

She only looked back once to see Dally closing the space between them. She turned back around and pumped her arms faster, a smile playing across her face as she ran across the vacant lot. Not that there was anything to smile about at this point.

She suddenly found herself being tackled to the ground, and she closed her eyes and brought her arms up to take most of the impact. The fall jolted the air out of her lungs and she was left gasping for air as Dally rolled her over to her back. He was crouched right over top of her, and she watched as his fist came up to slug her in the stomach. But it fell down to his side as he dropped down so that he was lying beside her, his own breath coming in quick gasps.

"I oughtta punch you right in the nose." He managed to get out between deep breaths. Mia managed a laugh as she rolled onto her side and back. She turned her head to look at Dally who was looking at her. She smirked as she sat up and took a deep breath.

"I'd probably deserve it." She said once Dally was sitting up beside her. "But we wouldn't have this issue if you could dance as well as you can run." Dally narrowed his eyes at her, but a smirk curled its way onto his lips and he sent a playful punch at her arm.

"And if you could run as well as you can dance, I wouldn't be able to catch you as often as I do." Mia rolled her eyes and sent a punch back at him.

"You're very funny." She said as they stood up and started to walk in the direction of the Dingo. "But I'll take it as a complement, considering you said that I can dance." Dally rolled his eyes, but sent her a side smirk as they walked off.

As they went, Mia started to silently think.

"Do you think that was punishment for skipping school?" She asked suddenly. Dallas looked up from the ground before he looked back down, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

"Probably." He said after a moment. "Though only Mrs. C would use dancing as a punishment." Mia smirked before she suddenly laughed.

"Really fits the saying cruel and unusual punishment." She said after a second, and Dallas smirked. "Then of course, we're probably the only kids who'd call dancing a cruel punishment." Dallas nodded in agreement as they walked across the street to the Dingo. Cruel and unusual punishment indeed.

XXX

I hope everyone enjoyed that story. I'm sorry if Dally seemed a little OOC, but I haven't written any stories with him in them for a while.

Also, for anyone who was reading No Safe Place, I've decided to write a sequel to it. I don't know when I'll have the first chapter up, but I hope it will be before the end of the summer. So be on the look out for that, I'm really excited to start posting a long story again, I feel so bored now that I don't have a main project to work on. :p

~Stay Gold!


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